Recording medium cassette and a recording/reproducing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A recording medium cassette being easily miniaturized if necessary, and a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, such as a VTR, adapted to use the same recording medium cassette. The recording medium cassette includes a printed wiring board having a plurality of information indicating contacts and which is fixed to the bottom wall of a case of the recording medium cassette so that the information indicating contacts are accessible from outside through slots formed in the bottom wall. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus is provided with a plurality of information detecting contacts respectively corresponding to the information indicating contacts of the recording medium cassette. The information detecting contacts may respectively contact the information indicating contacts upon insertion of the recording medium cassette into the recording and/or reproducing apparatus so as to enable information to be transferred therebetween. The VTR is adapted to use both a small-sized tape cassette and a large-sized tape cassette.

This application is a reissue of application Ser. No. 08/067,811, filedMay 27, 1993..Iaddend.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a recording medium cassette, and to arecording and/or reproducing apparatus. More specifically, the presentinvention relates to a recording medium cassette capable of beingoptionally provided with additional identifiers and of being easilyminiaturized if necessary, and having satisfactory appearance, and to arecording and/or reproducing apparatus suitable for using the samerecording medium cassette.

2. Description of the Related Art

The related-art recording medium cassette, such as a tape cassette ashown in FIG. 20 for use on an 8 mm video tape recorder (hereinafterabbreviated to "VTR"), is provided with recognition holes indicatingpieces of information about the magnetic tape including the type of themagnetic tape and the thickness of the magnetic tape.

As shown in FIG. 20, the tape cassette a is provided with recognitionholes c in the bottom wall b thereof in the opposite rear corners. Theserecognition holes c are allocated to pieces of information including thetype of the magnetic tape and the thickness of the magnetic tape.

When the tape cassette a is inserted in a VTR, the detecting pins ofswitches are inserted in the recognition holes c, respectively, to readthe pieces information on the basis of the respective depths ofinsertion of the detecting pins in the recognition holes c. In FIG. 20,indicated at d are positioning holes.

In this related-art tape cassette a, the recognition holes c are eitheropen or closed to indicate pieces of information. Accordingly, therecognition holes c need to be formed in portions of the bottom wall bof the tape cassette a having a thickness large enough to form therecognition holes c. Consequently, the recognition holes c can be formedonly in limited areas of the surface of the bottom wall b and therestriction holes c diminishes the area of the surface of the bottomwall b available for other uses.

Furthermore, if the recognition holes need to be formed in the oppositecorners of the rear side of the bottom wall, the positions of therecognition holes of a small-sized tape cassette on the VTR and those ofthe corresponding recognition holes of a large-sized tape cassette onthe same VTR are different from each other.

Accordingly, a VTR which is designed to use both the small-sized tapecassette and the large-sized tape cassette must be provided with twosets of switches, namely, one set of switches for the recognition holesof the small-sized tape cassette and another set of switches for therecognition holes of the large-sized tape cassette, or one set ofswitches which can be shifted according to the size of the tapecassette. Such an arrangement of the switches makes the construction ofthe VTR complex.

Since each recognition hole is allocated to a single piece ofinformation, the number of recognition holes increases with the increaseof the number of pieces of information, increasing area and volumenecessary for forming the recognition holes, which makes theminiaturization of the tape cassette difficult.

Further, since the recognition holes c are identified by physical itemssuch as position and depth thereof, identifiers which are not taken intoconsideration when prescribing a format cannot be added.

Furthermore, a large number of recognition holes spoils the appearanceof the bottom surface of the tape cassette.

Recording medium cassettes provided with an IC chip for storinginformation about the recording medium cassettes have been proposed, forexample, in:

U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,644 Jul. 6, 1982 (Theophiel C. J. L. Starr)

U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,285 May 10, 1983 (Theophiel C. J. L. Starr)

U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,684 Jan. 17, 1984 (Claude Sechet et al.)

U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,875 Jul. 13, 1989 (Zenkichi Kuriyama et al.)

Although these previously proposed recording medium cassettes facilitatestoring information about the recording medium cassettes, the IC chipincreases the cost of the recording medium cassettes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide arecording medium cassette capable of being optionally provided withadditional information and of being formed in a relatively small size,and having satisfactory appearance.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a recordingmedium cassette having an information indicating means for indicatinginformation about the recording medium, facilitating the detection ofthe information.

A third object of the present invention is to provide arecording/reproducing apparatus or a reproducing apparatus capable ofusing such a recording medium cassette.

A recording medium cassette in accordance with the present invention hasa case provided with a plurality of exposed information indicatingcontacts, and a recording/reproducing apparatus or a reproducingapparatus in accordance with the present invention is provided with aplurality of information detecting contacts respectively correspondingto the plurality of information indicating contacts of the recordingmedium cassette, and a power supply having an output terminal connectedto one of the plurality of information detecting contacts.

In one aspect of the present invention, a recording medium cassettecapable of being used on a compatible recording/reproducing apparatuscapable of using at least two kinds of recording medium cassettesdiffering in size from each other is provided with informationindicating means which coincides with those of another recording mediumcassette of a different size when the mouth thereof coincides with thatof the latter recording medium cassette.

In another aspect of the present invention, a recording/reproducingapparatus capable of using both recording medium cassettes differing insize from each other and of positioning those different recording mediumcassettes with their mouths positioned at a fixed position therein, andprovided with a fixed information detecting means capable of detectingpieces of information indicated by the information indicating contactsof either of the recording medium cassettes.

Since the information indicating contacts are exposed, the thickness ofthe recording medium cassette need not be very large, and theinformation indicating contacts are not highly subject to positionalrestrictions. The recording medium cassette can be miniaturized becausethe information indicating contacts may be formed in a relatively smallsize in a relatively small area.

When each information indicating contact is used for indicating a bit ofa signal instead of allocating the information indicating contact to oneof the identifiers identifying the category of the recording mediumcassette, a comparatively large number of pieces of information can beindicated by a comparatively small number of information indicatingcontacts; for example, eight identifiers by three indication indicatingcontacts, i.e., three bits, and sixteen identifiers by four indicationindicating contacts, i.e., four bits.

Identifiers which are not taken into consideration when prescribing aformat can be easily added to the format without modifying or withoutchanging the size of the recording medium cassette, which enhances theextendibility of the format.

Since the information indicating contacts do not need too many holesformed in the case of the recording medium cassette need not be providedwith too many holes, the information indicating contacts do not spoilthe appearance of the recording medium cassette.

Since the positions of the information indicating contacts of thelarge-sized recording medium cassette in accordance with the presentinvention on the recording/reproducing apparatus are the same as thoseof the corresponding information indicating contacts of the small-sizedrecording medium cassette in accordance with the present invention, therecording/reproducing apparatus needs only a single informationdetecting means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a small-sized video tape cassette in a statewhere the shutter thereof is closed;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the small-sized video tape cassette of FIG. 1in a state where the shutter is opened;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the small-sized video tapecassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential portion of thevideo tape cassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a printed wiring board;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a video tape cassette in a preferredembodiment according to the present invention in a state where theshutter thereof is closed;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the video tape cassette of FIG. 6 in a statewhere the shutter is opened;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view of the video tape cassette of FIG.6;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential portion of thevideo tape cassette of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a printed wiring boardprovided with information indicating contacts;

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of a recording/reproducingapparatus in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of a connector serving as aninformation detecting means;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the connector of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken on line XIV--XIV in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a connection diagram of an information reading system;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the recording/reproducing apparatus of FIG.11, in which a large-sized video tape cassette and a small-sized videotape cassette are superposed hypothetically one over the other on therecording/reproducing apparatus;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged perspective view of a printed wiring boardprovided with information indicating contacts employed in a video tapecassette in another embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an information reading system for readinginformation indicated by the information indicating contacts of theprinted wiring board of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram of a voltage comparator included in therecording/reproducing apparatus of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 20 is a bottom view of a related-art recording medium cassette.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described as applied to a video tapecassette and to a VTR which uses the video tape cassette.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a small-sized video tape cassette 1 has acase 2 having a laterally elongate rectangular shape and formed byjoining together a top half case 3 and a bottom half case 4. A pair oftape reels 6 are supported for rotation within the case 2, and amagnetic tape 5 having opposite ends fastened to the pair of tape reels6 is held on the pair of tape reels 6. Formed in the bottom wall 8 ofthe case 2 are a pair of laterally spaced through holes 7 for receivingthe bosses 9 of the tape reels 6 so that splined holes 9a formed in thebosses 9 are accessible from outside. A shutter 10 is supported slidablyon the inner surface of the bottom wall 8 of the bottom half case 4. Theshutter 10 is provided with a pair of laterally spaced through holes 11.When the shutter 10 is at its closed position, the through holes 11thereof are dislocated from the through holes 7 of the case 2 to concealthe splined holes 9a of the tape reels 6. When the shutter 10 is shiftedto its open position, the through holes 11 thereof coincide with thethrough holes 7, respectively, so that the splined holes 9a of the tapereels 6 are exposed through the through holes 7 and 11. Tape outlets 12are formed in the front wall of the case 2 at positions near theopposite ends of the front wall of the case 2, respectively. A mouth 13opening toward the front and downward is formed between the tape outlets12 in the front portion of the case 2. A portion of the magnetic tape 5extends between the tape outlets 12 along the front side of the mouth13. A turning lid 14 is supported pivotally in the front portion of thecase so as to cover the front side of the case 2. A shallow, rectangularrecess 15 is formed in the inner surface of the bottom wall 8 of thecase 2 at the middle of the rear portion of the bottom wall 8. Contactslots 6 are formed in the bottom wall 8 of the case 2 in the recess 15in a lateral arrangement.

Referring to FIG. 5, a printed wiring board 17 has a rectangular shapesubstantially exactly fitting the recess 15. Rectangular contacts 18,i.e., contacts 18a, 18b, 18c and 18d in this embodiment, are formed onthe lower surface of the printed wiring board 17 in a lateralarrangement so that the contacts 18 coincide with the contact slots 16of the case 2, respectively, when the printed wiring board 17 is fittedin the recess 15. The contacts 18 are gold-plated to secure durabilityand reliability. A wiring pattern 19 of a conductive material is formedon the lower surface of the printed wiring board 17. In this embodiment,the contacts 18a and 18c are interconnected by the wiring pattern.

The printed wiring board 17 is fitted in the recess 15 of the case 2with its lower surface provided with the contacts 18a, 18b, 18c and 18dand the wiring pattern 19 facing down and fixed to the bottom wall 8with an adhesive or by welding. When fixing the printed wiring board 17to the bottom wall 8 of the case 2 by welding, pins (not shown) formedon the bottom surface of the recess 15 of the case 2 are insertedthrough holes formed in the printed wiring board 17, and then theprotruding portions of the pins are hot-pressed.

To ensure the fixation of the printed wiring board 17 to the case 2,ribs (not shown) may be formed on the inner surface of the top half case3 so that the ribs press down the printed wiring board 17 against thebottom surface of the recess 15 when the top half case 3 and the bottomhalf case 4 are joined together.

Referring to FIG. 6, a large-sized tape cassette 20, which is largerthan the small-sized tape cassette 1, is substantially the same inconstruction as the small-sized tape cassette 1, except that thelarge-sized tape cassette 20 is provided with a printed wiring board ata position different from that of the printed wiring board 17 of thesmall-sized tape cassette 1.

The large-sized tape cassette 20 has a case 21 having the shape of alaterally elongate, rectangular, flat box. A pair of tape reels 23 aresupported for rotation within the case 21, and a magnetic tape 22 isheld on the tape reels 23. A portion of the magnetic tape 22 extendsbetween tape outlets 24 along the front side of a mouth 25.

Splined holes 26a formed in the bosses 26 of the reels 23 are accessiblefrom outside through through holes 28 formed in the bottom wall 27 ofthe case 21, and through holes 30 formed in a shutter 29 when theshutter 29 is at its open position. The front side of the case 21 iscovered with a lid 31.

A shallow recess 32 is formed in the inner surface of the bottom wall 27of the case 21 at a position slightly to the rear from the centralportion of the inner surface of the bottom wall 27. The recess 32 issubstantially the same in size and depth as the recess 15 of thesmall-sized tape cassette 1. Contact slots 33 are formed in the bottomwall 27 of the case 21 in the recess 32.

A printed wiring board 34, which is substantially identical with theprinted wiring board 17, is provided with contacts 35 and a wiringpattern 36 of a conductive material on its lower surface. The printedwiring board 34 is fixedly fitted in the recess 32 with its lowersurface facing down and with the contacts 35 coinciding respectivelywith the contact slots 33.

As shown in FIG. 16, in which the small-sized tape cassette 1 and thelarge-sized tape cassette 20 are superposed hypothetically one over theother on a VTR 41 (see FIG. 11) designed for using either of thesmall-sized tape cassette 1 or the large-sized tape cassette 20, therespective mouths 13 and 25 of the tape cassettes 1 and 20 coincide witheach other. Therefore, VTR 41 needs a single set of tape operatingsystem and the arrangement and operation of the component members of thetape operating system of the VTR 41 are simple. In FIG. 16, there areshown a magnetic head cylinder 37, a capstan 38, a pinch roller 39 andguide rollers 40.

Thus, the position of the mouth 13 of the small-sized tape cassette 1 inthe VTR 41 and that of the mouth 25 of the large-sized tape cassette 20in the VTR 41 coincide with each other, and the positions of thecontacts 18 of the printed wiring board 17 of the small-sized tapecassette 1 in the VTR 41 and those of the contacts 35 of the printedwiring board 34 of the large-sized tape cassette 20 in the VTR 41coincide with each other.

An information detecting system for detecting pieces of informationindicated by the contacts 18 or 35 will be described hereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 16, the VTR 41 has a cabinet 42, a mechanicalchassis 43 disposed within the cabinet 42, mechanical componentsincluding the magnetic head cylinder 37 and reel tables 44 are mountedon the mechanical chassis 43, and a connector 45 fixedly disposed on themechanical chassis 43 at a position corresponding to the contacts 18(35). As indicated by the arrows in FIG. 16, the reel tables 44 areshifted between positions for supporting the reels 6 of the small-sizedtape cassette 1 and positions for supporting the reels 23 of thelarge-sized tape cassette 20.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, the connector 45 comprises a casing 46,detecting contacts 56 and a shaft 60 pivotally supporting the detectingcontacts 56 on the casing 46.

The casing 46 is formed of an insulating material, such as a syntheticresin, and is provided with a recess 47 opening upward and backward.Grooves 48 are formed in the front portion of the bottom surface of therecess 47 to form an overhang 49 at the front end of the recess 47.Support walls 50 are arranged laterally at regular intervals along therear end of the recess 47 to form spaces 51 therebetween and the sidewalls of the recess 47 and the support walls 50. Positioning recesses 52are formed in the overhang 49 at positions respectively corresponding tothe spaces 51. An attaching lug 53 provided with a through hole 53aprojects from the middle of the front end of the casing 46, and apositioning lug 54 provided with a recess 54a opening rearward projectsrearward from the middle of the rear end of the casing 46. Through holes55 are formed in the lower wall of the casing 46 at positions betweenthe spaces 51 and the positioning recesses 52, respectively.

The detecting contacts 56 are formed by bending a conductive spring wirein the shape of a torsion coil spring. Each detecting contact 56 has acoil portion 57, a lower arm 58 and an upper arm 59. The free end of thelower arm 58 is bent down at right angles to form a connecting end 58a.The front portions of the upper arms 59 are bent down in the shape of aninverted letter V to form contact portions 59a. The extremities 59b ofthe upper arms 59 extend substantially horizontally.

The coil portions 57 of the detecting contacts 56 are fitted in thespaces 51 of the casing 46 with the lower arms 58 extended along thebottom surface of the recess 47 of the casing 46 and the extremities ofthe connecting portions 58a projecting downward from the bottom surfaceof the casing 46. The extremities of the contact portions 59a of theupper arms 59 are vertically movable in the positioning recess 52. Theextremities 59b of the upper arms 59 underlie portions of the lowersurface of the overhang 49 in front of the front ends of the positioningrecess 52. Since the coil portions 57 are held in place and the upperarms 59 tend to turn upward when not depressed, the extremities 59b ofthe upper arms 59 are held in contact with the lower surface of theoverhang 49 to determine the vertical position of the upper arms 59.

The detecting contacts 56 are thus arranged on the casing 46, and theshaft 60 is inserted through the rear ends of the opposite side walls ofthe recess 47, the support walls 50 and the coil portions 57 of thedetecting contacts 56 and fixed to the casing 46 to support thedetecting contacts 56 on the casing 46.

The connector 45 thus formed is placed on the mechanical chassis 43 withthe recess 54a of the positioning lug 54 in engagement with apositioning projection 61 formed on the mechanical chassis 43 and isfixed to the mechanical chassis 43 with a screw 62 through the throughhole 53a of the attaching lug 53 in the mechanical chassis 43.

The connector 45 is connected to a microcomputer 64 by a flexibleprinted wiring board 63. The connecting portions 58a of the detectingcontacts 56 are connected to the conductors 65 of the flexible printedwiring board 63, respectively.

When the tape cassette 1 (20) is placed on the cassette holder, notshown, of the VTR 41, and the tape cassette 1 (20) is lowered as far asthe splined holes 9a (26a) of the tape reels 6 (23) engage the reeltables 44, the upper ends of the contact portions 59a of the detectingcontacts 56 of the connector 45 come into contact with the terminals 18(35) of the tape cassette 1 (20). When depressed by the lowering tapecassette 1 (20), the upper arms 59 of the detecting contacts 56 areflexed downward, the extremities 59b of the upper arms 59 are separatedfrom the lower surface of the overhang 49 of the casing 46, and theupper ends of the upper arms 53 move slightly forward and come intocontact with the contacts 18 (35). Thus, the upper ends of the contactportions 59a are in resilient contact with the contacts 18 (35).

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, a supply voltage is applied, for example, tothe contact 18a (35a), and a three-bit signal produced by the contacts18b, 18c and 18d (35b, 35c and 35d) is sent to the microcomputer 64. Inthis embodiment, since only the contact 18c is connected to the contact18a by the wiring pattern 19, the three-bit signal is 0 1 0!. Thus,eight three-bit signals from 0 0 0! to 1 1 1! can be produced byselectively connecting the contacts 18b, 18c and/or 18d (35b, 35c and/or35d) and the contact 18a (35a).

A tape cassette 70 and a VTR 71 embodying the present invention in FIGS.17 to 19, in which parts like or corresponding to those of the firstembodiment are denoted by the same reference characters and thedescription thereof will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, each of the contacts 18b (35b), 18c (35c) and18d (35d) is connected or not connected to the contact 18a (35a) to makethe same to represent "0" or "1". The second embodiment employs aprinted wiring board 74 provided with contacts 73a, 73b, 73c and 73dwhich are kept open, short-circuited or connected through a resistor toa ground to represent three states by each of the contacts 73a, 73b, 73cand 73d.

Referring to FIG. 17, showing the connection of the contacts 73a, 73b,73c and 73d of the printed wiring board 74 by way of example, thecontact 73a is connected to the contact 73c by a conductor 75A andthrough a conductor 75B, a chip resistor 76 and a conductor 75C to thecontact 73d. Thus, the contacts 73a and 73c are short-circuited, thechip resistor 76 is interposed between the contacts 73a and 73d, and thecontacts 73a and 73b separated from each other. The printed wiring board74, similarly to the printed wiring boards 17 and 34, is fixedly fittedin the recess 15 (32) of the case 2 (21).

Referring to FIG. 18 showing the connection of the contacts 73a, 73b,73c and 73d of the printed wiring board 74 and the detection circuit ofthe VTR 71, the contacts 73a, 73b, 73c and 73d of the printed wiringboard 74 are brought into contact respectively with the detectingcontacts 78a, 78b, 78c and 78d of a connector 77 included in the VTR 71when the tape cassette 70 is inserted in the VTR 71.

The contact 73d is connected through the detecting contact 78d to theinput terminal of a voltage comparator 79A, and through a resistor 80dto the output terminal of a power supply 81. The contact 73c isconnected through the detecting contact 78c to the input terminal of avoltage comparator 79B and through a resistor 80c to the output terminalof the power supply 81. The contact 73b is connected through thedetecting contact 78b to the input terminal of a voltage comparator 79C,and through a resistor 80b to the output terminal of the power supply81. The contact 73a is connected through the detecting contact 78a to aground.

The voltage comparators 79A, 79B and 79C detect the respectivepotentials of the detecting contacts 78b, 78c and 78d, respectively, anddetermine detection ranges in which the potentials of the correspondingdetecting contacts 78b, 78c and 78d fall, and give either of two binarysignals D1 and D2 representing the detection ranges through a dataconversion circuit 82 to a microcomputer 83.

The voltage comparators 79A, 79B and 79c are identical in configurationand hence only the voltage comparator 79A will be described.

Referring to FIG. 19, the voltage comparator 79A comprises threecomparators 84, 85 and 86, a resistor 87, a NOT gate 88 and an AND gate89. The potential of the directing contact 78d is applied to thepositive input terminals of the comparators 84 and 85. A referencevoltage, for example, about 3 V, obtained by dividing the supplyvoltage, for example, 5 V, of the power supply 81 by the resistor 87 isapplied to the negative input terminals of the comparators 84 and 85.The output signal D1 of the comparator 84 appears at a terminal, theoutput signal of the comparator 85 is applied to the input terminal ofthe NOT gate 88, and the output signal of the NOT gate 88 is given tothe AND gate 89.

The potential of the detecting contact 80d is applied to the positiveinput terminal of the comparator 86, a reference voltage lower than thereference voltage for the comparators 84 and 85, for example, about 2 V,obtained by dividing the supply voltage by the resistor 87 is applied tothe negative input terminal of the comparator 86, and the output signalof the comparator 86 is applied to the AND gate 89.

The AND gate 89 receives the signal provided by the comparator 85through the NOT gate 88 and the output signal of the comparator 86,processes the input signals by an AND operation, and provides a signalD2 obtained by the AND operation.

When the potential of the detecting contact 78d is not lower than thereference voltage for the comparators 84 and 85, i.e., in the range of 3to 5 V, the output signals of the comparators 84 and 85 goes HIGH and,consequently, the signal D1 goes HIGH. When the output signal of thecomparator 85 is HIGH, the output of the NOT gate 88, i.e., thecomplement of the input signal, applied to the AND gate 89 goes LOW and,consequently, the signal D2 goes LOW.

When the potential of the detecting contact 78d is not higher than thereference voltages for the comparators 84 and 85 and not lower than thereference voltage for the comparator 86, i.e., in the range of 2 to 3 V,the output signals of the comparators 84 and 85 goes LOW and hence thesignal D1 goes LOW. Since the output signal of the NOT gate 88, i.e.,the complement of the output signal LOW of the comparator 85, is HIGHand the output signal of the comparator 86 is HIGH, the signal D2 goesHIGH.

When the potential of the detecting contact 78d is not higher than thereference voltage of the comparator 86, i.e., in the range of 0 to 2 V,all the output signals of the comparators 84, 85 and 86 go LOW and,consequently, both the signals D1 and D2 go LOW. Thus, three states canbe indicated by the combinations of the signals D1 and D2.

When the resistances of the resistors 80b, 80c and 80d and the chipresistor 76 shown in FIG. 18 are equal to each other, the potential ofthe detecting contact 78d is 2.5 V and hence the output signals D1 andD2 of the voltage comparator 79A are LOW and HIGH, respectively.

Since the potential of the detecting contact 78c is 0 V, both the outputsignals D1 and D2 of the voltage comparator 79B are LOW. Since thepotential of the detecting contact 78b is 5 V, the output signals D1 andD2 of the voltage comparator 79C are HIGH and LOW, respectively.

The output signals D1 and D2 of the voltage comparators 79A, 79B and 79Care applied to the input terminals I₁ to I₆ of the data conversioncircuit 82, and then the data conversion circuit 82 converts these inputsignals representing parallel data into corresponding serial data andgives the serial data to the microcomputer 83.

Then, the microcomputer 83 processes the serial data to determine thetype of the tape cassette, the length and type of the tape and the likeon the basis of the serial data.

Although this embodiment uses three kinds of state of each of the threecontacts in combination to indicate 3³ kinds of state, generally, N to Mpower pieces of information can be indicated by using M contacts and adetecting circuit capable of detecting N kinds of state of each of the Mcontacts.

Although the printed wiring board provided with the contacts is disposedon the bottom wall of the case of the tape cassette in the foregoingembodiments, the printed wiring board may be placed on the rear wall,side wall or top wall of the case of the tape cassette.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred forms with acertain degree of particularity, obviously many changes and variationsare possible therein. It is therefore to be understood that the presentinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically describedherein without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording medium cassette having a casecontaining a recording medium and a plurality of information indicatingcontacts, said case having at least one slot and a recess formed in awall of said case, said information indicating contacts are formed on aprinted wiring board which is arranged in said recess such that saidinformation indicating contacts are positioned so as not to extendbeyond an outer surface of said wall of said case and are accessiblethrough said at least one slot from outside said recording mediumcassette.
 2. A recording medium cassette according to claim 1, whereinsaid recording medium is a magnetic tape, and the magnetic tape is heldon tape reels rotatably supported in the case.
 3. A recording mediumcassette according to claim 1, wherein one specified informationindicating contact among the information indicating contacts isconnected to some of the rest of the information indicating contacts. 4.A recording medium cassette according to claim 1, wherein one specifiedinformation indicating contact among the information indicating contactsis isolated from at least some of the rest of the information indicatingcontacts.
 5. A recording medium cassette to be used on a recordingand/or reproducing apparatus designed to use both the recording mediumcassette and a small-sized recording medium cassette smaller in sizethan the former, provided with a mouth across which a portion of arecording medium held in a case thereof is extended, and informationindicating means which is the same in size and construction as thatincluded in the small-sized recording medium cassette, characterized inthat the recording medium cassette is capable of being inserted in therecording and/or reproducing apparatus and of being positioned in therecording and/or reproducing apparatus with the mouth thereof positionedat a position where the mouth of the small-sized recording mediumcassette is to be positioned when the small-sized recording mediumcassette is inserted in the recording and/or reproducing apparatus andpositioned in the same, and with the information indicating meansthereof positioned at a position where the information indicating meansof the small-sized recording medium cassette is to be positioned whenthe small-sized recording medium cassette is inserted in the recordingand/or reproducing apparatus and positioned in the same, saidinformation indicating means having a plurality of informationindicating contacts formed on a printed wiring board which is arrangedin a recess of a wall of the case such that the information indicatingcontacts are positioned so as not to extend beyond an outer surface ofthe wall of the case and are accessible from the outside through atleast one slot in the case.
 6. A recording medium cassette according toclaim 5, wherein said recording medium is a magnetic tape, and themagnetic tape is held on tape reels rotatably supported in the case ofthe recording medium cassette.
 7. A recording medium cassette accordingto claim 6, wherein one specified information indicating contact amongthe plurality of information indicating contacts formed on the printedwiring board is connected to some of the rest of the informationindicating contacts.
 8. A recording medium cassette according to claim6, wherein one specified information indicating contact among theplurality of information indicating contacts formed on the printedwiring board is isolated from at least some of the rest of theinformation indicating contacts.
 9. A recording and/or reproducingapparatus designed to use at least a small-sized recording mediumcassette having a case provided with information indicating means and alarge-sized recording medium cassette having a case provided with thesame information indicating means as that of the small-sized recordingmedium cassette, and capable of positioning the small-sized recordingmedium cassette and the large-sized recording medium cassette thereinwith respective mouths of the small-sized recording medium cassette andthe large-sized recording medium cassette positioned at a fixedposition; characterized by fixed information detecting means capable ofdetecting information indicated by the information indicating means ofthe small-sized recording medium cassette and the large-sized recordingmedium cassette, and said information indicating means having aplurality of information indicating contacts formed on a printed wiringboard which is arranged in a recess of a wall of the respective casesuch that the information indicating contacts are positioned so as notto extend beyond an outer surface of the wall and are accessible fromthe outside through at least one slot in the respective case.
 10. Arecording and/or reproducing apparatus according to claim 9, whereinsaid fixed information detecting means comprises a plurality ofinformation detecting contacts respectively corresponding to theinformation indicating contacts of each of the small-sized recordingmedium cassette and the large-sized recording medium cassette.
 11. Arecording medium cassette having a case containing tape reels rotatablysupported in the case and a magnetic tape held on the tape reels; saidcase further containing a plurality of information indicating contactsaccessible from outside, said information indicating contacts are formedon a printed wiring board which is fitted in a recess formed in a wallof the case such that the information indicating contacts are accessiblethrough slots formed in the case from outside, in which a specifiedinformation indicating contact from the information indicating contactsis connected through resistors to some of the rest of the informationindicating contacts.
 12. A recording medium cassette having a casecontaining tape reels rotatably supported in the case and a magnetictape held on the tape reels; said case further containing a plurality ofinformation indicating contacts accessible from outside, saidinformation indicating contacts are formed on a printed wiring boardwhich is fitted in a recess formed in a wall of the case such that theinformation indicating contacts are accessible through slots formed inthe case from outside, in which a specified information indicatingcontact from the information indicating contacts is separated from someof the rest of the information indicating contacts.
 13. A tape recordingand/or reproducing apparatus capable of recording information on amagnetic tape contained in a case of a recording medium cassette and/orof reproducing information recorded on the magnetic tape, said taperecording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising a plurality ofinformation detecting contacts arranged so as to be in contact with aplurality of information indicating contacts formed on the recordingmedium cassette so as to be accessible from outside, when the recordingmedium cassette is inserted therein, each of said plurality ofinformation detecting contacts is a torsion coil spring having an upperarm bent in the shape of an inverted letter V and having a contactportion, and a power supply having an output terminal connected to oneof the plurality of information detecting contacts.
 14. A recordingmedium cassette to be used on a recording and/or reproducing apparatusdesigned to use both the recording medium cassette and a small-sizedrecording medium cassette smaller in size than the former, provided witha mouth across which a portion of a magnetic tape held on tape reelsrotating supported in the case thereof is extended, and informationindicating means which is the same in size and construction as thatincluded in the small-sized recording medium cassette, characterized inthat the recording medium cassette is capable of being inserted in therecording and/or reproducing apparatus and of being positioned in therecording and/or reproducing apparatus with the mouth thereof positionedat a position where the mouth of the small-sized recording mediumcassette is to be positioned when the small-sized recording mediumcassette is inserted in the recording and/or reproducing apparatus andpositioned in the same, and with the information indicating meansthereof positioned at a position where the information indicating meansof the small-sized recording medium cassette is to be positioned whenthe small-sized recording medium cassette is inserted in the recordingand/or reproducing apparatus and positioned in the same, saidinformation indicating means comprises a plurality of informationindicating contacts accessible from outside which are formed on aprinted wiring board, the printed wiring board is fitted in a recessformed in one of the walls of the case of the recording medium cassetteso that the plurality of information indicating contacts are accessiblefrom outside through slots formed in the case of the recording mediumcassette, in which one specified information indicating contact amongthe plurality of information indicating contacts formed on the printedwiring board is connected through resistors to some of the rest of theinformation indicating contacts.
 15. A recording medium cassette to beused on a recording and/or reproducing apparatus designed to use boththe recording medium cassette and a small-sized recording mediumcassette smaller in size than the former, provided with a mouth acrosswhich a portion of a magnetic tape held on tape reels rotating supportedin the case thereof is extended, and information indicating means whichis the same in size and construction as that included in the small-sizedrecording medium cassette, characterized in that the recording mediumcassette is capable of being inserted in the recording and/orreproducing apparatus and of being positioned in the recording and/orreproducing apparatus with the mouth thereof positioned at a positionwhere the mouth of the small-sized recording medium cassette is to bepositioned when the small-sized recording medium cassette is inserted inthe recording and/or reproducing apparatus and positioned in the same,and with the information indicating means thereof positioned at aposition where the information indicating means of the small-sizedrecording medium cassette is to be positioned when the small-sizedrecording medium cassette is inserted in the recording and/orreproducing apparatus and positioned in the same, said informationindicating means comprises a plurality of information indicatingcontacts accessible from outside which are formed on a printed wiringboard, the printed wiring board is fitted in a recess formed in one ofthe walls of the case of the recording medium cassette so that theplurality of information indicating contacts are accessible from outsidethrough slots formed in the case of the recording medium cassette, inwhich one specified information indicating contact among the pluralityof information indicating contacts formed on the printed wiring board isisolated from some of the rest of the information indicating contacts.16. A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus capable of recordinginformation on a magnetic tape contained in a case of a recording mediumcassette and/or of reproducing information recorded on the magnetictape, said tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising aplurality of information detecting contacts arranged so as to be incontact with a plurality of information indicating contacts formed on aprinted wiring board which is arranged in a recess of a wall of the caseof the recording medium cassette such that the information indicatingcontacts are positioned so as not to extend beyond an outer surface ofthe wall of the case and are accessible from outside through at leastone slot in the case, when the recording medium cassette is insertedtherein, and a power supply having an output terminal connected to oneof the plurality of information detecting contacts. .Iadd.
 17. A tapecassette including a tape, a case having at least one slot, a pluralityof information indicating contacts formed on a printed wiring board, andmeans for mounting said printed wiring board at an inner surface of awall of said case such that said information indicating contacts arepositioned so as not to extend beyond an outer surface of said wall ofsaid case and are accessible through said at least one slot from outsidesaid tape cassette..Iaddend..Iadd.18. A tape cassette having a casecontaining tape reels rotatably supported in the case and a tape held onthe tape reels; said case further containing a plurality of informationindicating contacts accessible from outside, said information indicatingcontacts are formed on a printed wiring board which is arranged in thecase such that the information indicating contacts are positioned so asnot to extend beyond an outer surface of a wall of said case and areaccessible through slots formed in the case from outside, in which aspecified information indicating contact from the information indicatingcontacts is connected through resistors to some of the rest of theinformation indicating contacts..Iaddend..Iadd.19. A tape cassettehaving a case containing tape reels rotatably supported in the case anda tape held on the tape reels; said case further containing a pluralityof information indicating contacts accessible from outside, saidinformation indicating contacts are formed on a printed wiring boardwhich is arranged in the case such that the information indicatingcontacts are positioned so as not to extend beyond an outer surface of awall of said case and are accessible through slots formed in the casefrom outside, in which a specified information indicating contact fromthe information indicating contacts is separated from some of the restof the information indicating contacts..Iaddend..Iadd.20. A tapecassette having a case containing tape reels rotatably supported in thecase and a tape held on the tape reels; said case further containing aplurality of information indicating contacts accessible from outside,said information indicating contacts are formed on a printed wiringboard which is arranged in the case such that the information indicatingcontacts are positioned so as not to extend beyond an outer surface of awall of said case and are accessible through slots formed in the casefrom outside, in which a specified information indicating contact fromthe information indicating contacts is connected to some of the rest ofthe information indicating contacts..Iaddend..Iadd.21. A tape cassettehaving a case containing tape reels rotatably supported in the case anda tape held on the tape reels; said case further containing a pluralityof information indicating contacts accessible from outside and having aconnecting pattern associated therewith, said information indicatingcontacts are formed on a printed wiring board which is arranged in thecase such that the information indicating contacts are positioned so asnot to extend beyond an outer surface of a wall of said case and areaccessible through slots formed in the case from outside, wherein theconnecting pattern relates to information pertaining to the tapecassette, said connecting pattern including at least one of a directconnection to a specified information indicating contact of theinformation indicating contacts, isolation from the specifiedinformation indicating contact, and connection to the specifiedinformation indicating contact by way of a resistor..Iaddend..Iadd.22. Atape cassette according to claim 21, wherein the specified informationindicating contact is connected to ground..Iaddend..Iadd.23. A recordingand/or reproducing apparatus capable of recording information on a tapecontained in a case of a tape cassette and/or reproducing informationrecorded on the tape, said recording and/or reproducing apparatuscomprising:power supply means for supplying electrical voltage to atleast one of a plurality of information indicating contacts formed on aprinted wiring board which is arranged in the case of said tape cassettesuch that the information indicating contacts are positioned so as notto extend beyond an outer surface of a wall of said case; and voltagedetector means for detecting voltage of at least one of said pluralityof information indicating contacts of said tapecassette..Iaddend..Iadd.24. A tape recording and/or reproducingapparatus capable of recording information on a tape contained in a caseof a tape cassette and/or of reproducing information recorded on thetape, said tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising aplurality of information detecting contacts arranged so as to be incontact with a plurality of information indicating contacts formed on aprinted wiring board which is arranged in a wall of the case of the tapecassette such that the information indicating contacts are positioned soas not to extend beyond an outer surface of the wall of the case and areaccessible from outside through at least one slot in the case, when thetape cassette is inserted therein, and a power supply having an outputterminal connected to one of the plurality of information detectingcontacts..Iaddend.